In a scene replayed throughout the country, Virginia and Grider Hudson visit the grave of Grider’s brother, World War II veteran Carter Hudson, at Fairview Cemetery in Bowling Green, Ky. (Alex Slitz, AP/Daily News)

By Harriet FreibergerGuest Commentary

Memorial Day traditions stem from a time even before history’s chronicling began. War has always been a part of life: victory, defeat, winners, losers – and death – the price that is paid.

On Monday, in the cemetery on the hill above Steamboat Springs, residents came together, neighbors with our own traditions. It is springtime. Lush green has replaced winter. Setting aside day-to-day disagreements and, too, greater differences, we saw the small American flags that mark the resting places of those who have served in the military, and we felt the impact of awakening awareness. Looking back into their lives, we revisited what has been and, in doing so, we reach in hope for what will be.

Memories fill the path from past to present, sustaining us as present becomes future. One generation follows another. Touching the stones that mark their places, we traced the names and dates of loved ones’ time upon this earth. Listening to the silence, we longed for their voices. Our traditions helped us hear.Read more…

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Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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